Pepe’s, Bolton – Review

So, I’m sure we have all seen the countless adverts of Pepe’s chicken on TV throughout September 2016 (I believe it was), following which they opened one in Bolton town centre. Smack bang in the middle. Such a good location for a reputable restaurant/grill. Pepe’s is now open in Market place, in the vaults, just past Prezzo. Yes, there is also a ‘Halal’ Nando’s down there too, but the question of the authenticity is yet very much alive (in my eyes at least). For locale of the restaurant, I am going to give it a solid 10/10, it’s just so ideal to just pop down for a lunch, but is it really worth the price and time?

As for seating, waiting time, pricing and hygiene, I may get a bit nasty. But no one likes having to worry about all that when they’re dying to eat some lunch now do they? I know I didn’t.

It was busy, mainly because it was boxing day weekend and the rush for cheap clothes and gifts and shoes was, well, mad. But, regardless, from friends that have been, I was told t generally does get quite busy around lunch time, granted. It’s a relatively new place to eat in a town that’s being renovated, it will create a bit of a buzz. But not a buzz I think Pepe’s were prepared for. Seating? Not nearly enough to accommodate everyone. Whilst waiting in the queue, 3 sets of people came to the till, realised that they won’t get anywhere to sit and headed off back towards the way they came. I had to wait with my friend for 15 minutes before a table cleared up for us to eat. There were around 8 tables (mixes of 2s and 4s) all packed out. Then, the table that we did manage to nab, had the previous customers’ used plates (with leftover food in them). We asked staff to clean up the table, because it just wasn’t a nice sight as was putting us off our food, 3 times. THREE TIMES. Even then, when the lady did clean it up, she didn’t wipe down the table for another 5 minutes. It was just a horrible wait. It’s not like they were understaffed either, I saw many staff coming in and our of the staff area. After ordering, we waited another 15 minutes for food to come, granted it wasn’t that long of a wait but during this time we had to sit on a dirty table which just was not ideal whatsoever. Now, prices were very very similar to nandos, as was the layout, sauce bottle styles and ordering. Price was a lot higher than I had initially expected, but I was hungry so did order. I just had a bad experience with the restaurant customer service, giving it a solid 4/10.

Behold, the food. What a let down huh? after all the hype, what we got were two dry burgers and decent chips. Thank god for the sauces (not exactly something to rave about either, runny mayo), otherwise this was not something I would have been able to swallow. Just look at that bun, keep looking. Dry. They even got my order wrong, I asked for peri sweet potato fries, but at that point I didn’t bother to go and complain, I just wanted to eat and leave. I noticed a lot of people leaving food unfinished, especially this burger which is a popular item on the menu (XL Burger). The grilled chicken (1/4 or 1/2 chicken) was the only thing that I had seen someone order that did not look dry, which is the only thing I would consider getting IF I ever decide to go again, or the fries alone. They were a deent portion, I will give them that. But as for my meal, a solid 5/10, bonus for the portion size but it was so drying I refuse to be uber generous.